Harry and the Lovegood Family
by teddylonglong
Summary: The Dursleys didn't want him - but maybe someone else did. At the moment only a one-shot, later maybe more. Completely AU, Child fic, Neglect/Dursleys.


**Harry and the Lovegood Family**

It was six o'clock on a cold November morning in 1981, when Petunia Dursley opened the front door of their perfectly normal house on Privet Drive. Something caught her eye immediately, and she looked piercingly at the bundle that was lying in front of her door. Recognizing it as a little boy she let out a huge gasp and reluctantly took the letter that was attached to the bundle.

"Vernon, come here," she shrieked hysterically, pointing at the child and the letter at the same time. "Vernon, you have to take that _thing_ away." She emphasized thing to show her disgust for the child in front of her. "It's _her_ son, you know, we don't want that freak to infect Duddykins, now do we?"

"You want me to take him away? Where?" He asked.

"I don't care, just take him away," Petunia screamed, her face getting red with a mixture of fear and anger at the wizard who had dared to thrust that thing on their normal house's doorstep.

Vernon took the bundle and placed it in the backseat of his car, ignoring the small boy's frightened gasp at the sight of the unfamiliar man.

-----

Harry had just been woken up by a commotion and sleepily rubbed his tired eyes, wondering where he was when he remembered the events of the night before. "Mummy," he started to sob, just as the car began to move. "Mummy, I wan Mummy," the little boy cried, freeing himself from the blanket he was wrapped in.

"Shut up, you freak, and sit down," a loud, unfriendly and unfamiliar voice bellowed, and Harry gave the large man a frightened glance, shutting up immediately.

'_Where am I, and who's that mean man?_' he thought anxiously, feeling cold and uncomfortable in his pyjamas and full nappy. 

Finally, the car stopped so sudden that Harry fell from the seat he had been sitting on. Before he could even get to his feet to climb onto the seat again, the fat man pulled him out of the car and dragged him down a hill. Before Harry knew what was happening, he found himself lying on the ground in the grass all on his own. The man had vanished from sight.

-----

Harry anxiously looked around but couldn't see anything but grass and a nearby river, nothing else. '_Oh no, where am I? I'm hungry and thirsty, and I want my Mummy,_' Harry wailed, lying down on the cold ground. He started to shiver from the cold, so he curled up as best he could, in an attempt to stay warm. In order to keep his teeth from chattering, he put a thumb into his mouth, frantically forcing his fifteen-month old brain to think, '_What am I going to do?_' He lay there for a long time, finally falling asleep. When he woke up, he scrambled to his feet and started to toddle around as best as his little feet could. He found a few puddles from the rain that had started, and Harry greedily drank from the dirty water in the puddle, frowning at the taste. '_That's yucky. I want my milk!_' he started to cry again.

The sheer endless time of two days later, Harry had made himself as comfortable as possible under a tree. Nevertheless, he was completely wet, shivering from the cold, and his cries for his mummy and his milk had turned into harsh coughs. While he had been able to quinch his thirst from one of the many puddles all around him, he was extremely hungry, and his whole body had started to hurt.

Suddenly, he could hear voices. "Be careful not to fall into the river, Luna," a woman's friendly voice penetrated his ear. "And if you see a Grindylow, stay away and wait for Daddy and me," the voice continued.

Harry sat up excitedly. '_I have to talk to the nice lady; she will be able to help me,_' he thought and toddled as fast as he could to where a small girl was walking together with her parents. 

"Mummy, Daddy, wook, a boy," the girl shouted excitedly, spotting Harry first.

"Hello," Harry croaked hoarsely, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. 

"Hello dear, where did you come from? Where are your parents?" Luna's mother enquired in a soft voice, kneeling down and quickly covering Harry in a thick blanket her husband pulled out of his backpack for the obviously freezing child.

"My Mummy dead," Harry replied, noticing that his voice didn't come out properly.

"Whom are you here with?" the man asked.

"Large man bwinged me; I hewe alone; wan milk an my Mummy," Harry answered, sobbing.

"Wait, child," the woman spoke to him in a soft voice. "Your Mummy died, and a man brought you here and left you here alone, is that right?"

Harry gave her an anxious nod and sneezed. "And you have spent at least a few hours here in the cold rain only in your pyjamas, and now you have a bad cold," the man stated, and Harry nodded again.

"Can you tell me your name?" the nice woman asked, while Luna was watching Harry with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Come wif us, I Luna," she said friendly.

Harry looked at her warily, a small smile playing on his lips.

"I Hawwy," he croaked, "Hawwy Potta."

"You are Harry Potter?" the man asked flabbergasted. "Your parents did indeed die four days ago. What are we going to do with you? Would you mind us taking you to our home? Then we will see what we can do for you."

Harry gave the man a grateful look. He was feeling awful, and he wanted nothing more than to go to a warm home and sleep in a comfy bed, '_Maybe milk, and then a warm nap,_' he thought. Suddenly, the girl stepped over to him and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Hawwy hot, he fick," she told her mother, an accusing expression on her face.

Luna's mother carefully put a hand on Harry's forehead, frowning at the heat of his skin. "You're right, sweetie; Harry is obviously ill, and we shouldn't let him stand here any longer but take him home immediately," she stated, glancing at her husband, who immediately scooped Harry up in his arms and Apparated away with him.

-----

Harry felt even worse when everything started to move. He knew what Apparition felt like since his Mummy had Apparated with him from time to time but he didn't like it very much, and he felt so awful that he didn't protest when the nice people put him to bed immediately. The nice woman sat down on the edge of the bed and asked, "Now, sweetie, we have to call a Healer as you seem very ill. Do you know who always looks after you when you're ill?"

Harry wrinkled his forehead, deep in thought. '_Yes, there's the nice lady, who always makes me feel better, but what was her name?_' he thought and finally remembered, "Yes, An Poppy," he whispered.

"Aunt Poppy? Do you mean Poppy Pomfrey from Hogwarts?" the nice lady enquired, and Harry gave her an unsure nod. "All right, then, I will Floo-call her and see if she can come."

When her mother left the room, Luna climbed onto Harry's bed and sat down next to him, softly stroking his hot cheeks. "Hawwy tay wif Luna?" she asked, giving the boy a hopeful look.

Harry gave her a small smile and answered hoarsely, "Don' know if 'loud tay hewe."

"You fwoat sowe?" Luna enquired softly, and Harry gave her a small nod.

"I wike you!" Luna exclaimed, giving Harry a kiss on the cheek, just when her mother re-entered the room, followed by Madam Pomfrey.

"Yes, that's Harry Potter," Poppy told Mrs. Lovegood and stepped over to Harry, who gave her a happy smile of recognition and croaked, "An Poppy!" He was very relieved, knowing that Poppy would make him better. '_Mummy has taken me to Aunt Poppy before and she made me all better,_' Harry remembered gratefully and relaxed.

"Yes, Harry, it's me, but what happened to you, sweetie?" Not waiting for an answer, she waved her wand over the child, and her face became stern. She made Harry drink two potions and told him, "Harry, you must stay in bed and sleep as much as you can during the few next days. I'll come back tonight and check on you again."

"Fanku, An Poppy," Harry whispered back drowsily.

Poppy turned to Mrs. Lovegood. "He is very ill. His lung and a few other organs are being affected by the cold and from the germs that were in the water he has probably been drinking from puddles. I'm quite sure that you have saved his life; he wouldn't have survived another day out there. His parents died four days ago, and Professor Dumbledore took him to his Muggle relatives. They obviously didn't want him, and left him near where you finally found him. I would say he was left in the area perhaps as long as three days ago."

She remained pensive for a moment before she continued, "In fact, I should take him with me to Hogwarts because he is in such a bad condition, but I'm afraid that Dumbledore would take him back to his relatives. Therefore, I believe it would be in Harry's best interest if you could either take him in or find another family, who can take him. Otherwise I will speak with a few of my colleagues about the matter."

"Oh, I don't think that's necessary," Mrs. Lovegood replied softly. "I still have to speak with my husband, but I think we will take Harry in, won't we, Luna?"

"Yay, Hawwy tay!" Luna shouted happily and ran over to the bed to hug her new brother.

"That'll be the best for the boy. I know Harry well, and he's a very cute, loving, and alert child. I have to go back to Hogwarts now, but I'll return later this evening to check on him. If his condition worsens, you must call me immediately."

Over the next few days, Harry suffered through many nightmares caused by his high fever that made him relive the scenes from the night when his mother died. Luna's parents took turns sitting with him during the night, and Harry became used to them very quickly. Luna spent the whole day at Harry's side, trying to tell him stories, half of them nobody except for Harry was able to understand. Only Harry seemed to understand her babbling and obviously enjoyed it very much.

-----

Two weeks later, Harry had more or less recovered from his ordeal, and the Lovegoods took him to the Ministry in order to gain the guardianship of Harry. The day before, Poppy had held a long conversation with Harry asking him if he would like to stay with the Lovegoods as a member of their family, and Harry had agreed wholeheartedly. Aunt Mirabelle and Uncle Xenophilius were very nice to him, just like his own parents had been. Of course, Harry still missed his Mummy, especially when he was so ill, but 

Aunt Mirabelle did her best to fill in where for Lily, whom she had known personally from her time at Hogwarts. Luna seemed to adore Harry as if he was her own brother, and Harry just loved the bright girl, who always seemed to be able to read his feelings and make him happy.

Xenophilius Lovegood was the editor of The Quibbler and as such had many friends all over the wizarding world. Fortunately he also had friends in the department within the Ministry that dealt with child adoptions and guardianship matters. He had spoken to his friend while Harry had been ill and had been informed that Harry's guardians at the moment were Sirius Black for the wizarding world and the Dursleys in the Muggle world. When he explained that Harry's Muggle guardians had abandoned him and that Sirius Black was in Azkaban, his friend told him to come to the Ministry together with Harry in order to change the guardianship and possibly even adopt him.

Unsure about the question whether to adopt Harry or just gain guardianship, Mirabelle once more contacted Poppy, who answered, "I knew Lily and James Potter very well, and I know that they would have preferred Harry to be adopted by a nice family like you, than being raised by the Dursleys. For Luna and Harry I believe an adoption would be the best so that they can grow up as siblings."

Xenophilius took Luna through the Floo while Mirabelle went together with Harry carefully held in her arms. The Lovegoods explained once more that they wanted to adopt Harry and wanted to gain the guardianship over him. Two hours later, the newly arranged family returned home with a new certificate:

_**Name**__: Harry James Lovegood-Potter_

_**Father**__: James Potter_

_**Mother**__: Lily Potter_

_**Date of Birth**__: July 31, 1980_

_**Adopted Father**__: Xenophilius Lovegood_

_**Adopted Mother**__: Mirabelle Lovegood_

_**Adopted Siblings**__: Luna Lovegood, born September 5, 1980_

_**Date of Adoption**__: November 18, 1981_

_**Godfather**__: Alexander Lovegood_

_**Godmother**__: Poppy Pomfrey_

Luna and Harry were over the moon with joy, and while the exhausted toddlers were taking a nap after lunch, Mirabelle turned to her husband. "I'm glad that it's over and now even Dumbledore won't be able to take Harry from us anymore. Now, what are we going to do? We can't let the children sleep in one room forever."

Xenophilius sighed. "Yes, Mira, I know, but they are still so small, and it's much more convenient for you to have them together, isn't it? We can wait for a few years, and then prepare one of the guest rooms for Harry. I can imagine that the children prefer to stay together for now as well. However, we have to go and buy clothes and a few new toys for Harry."

"In fact, I'm very proud of Luna. She lets Harry play with everything. I have heard not once her saying something like 'that's mine.' She's really nice to Harry."

"He is a sweetheart, so she better be nice," her father laughed.

When Harry woke up from his nap, he felt very happy. Although he still sometimes thought of his Mummy, he loved his new parents and sister a lot, and he felt really welcome in his new home. '_I love Luna; she's so nice, and she always smiles,_' he thought happily.

That afternoon, the Lovegoods travelled to Diagon Alley, where they bought new clothes for both children before they headed to a huge toy store in Muggle London and bought a train set for Harry as well as a box of large toddlers' Lego blocks for both children. Finally, they had an ice cream at Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor. On the way back to the Leaky Cauldron they met Molly Weasley along with their youngest children. The two families knew each other quite well, since they both lived in Ottery St. Catchpole, so that the Lovegoods were immediately questioned about their new son and told the Weasleys that they had adopted Harry.

"Oh, that's good," Molly Weasley said, sounding relieved. "I was so worried when Albus told us that he had placed Harry with his Muggle relatives that Lily had despised so much. But it's good to know that he is in good hands."

"Oh, Molly, we are very happy to have him too, he is such a sweetie, and Luna adores him," Mirabelle told her neighbour.

-----

As soon as they returned home, Luna and Harry worked together hard in order to put up the train set but it was too difficult for the two toddlers. "Luna Hawwy no can. Mummy Miwa hewp wif twain?" Harry asked Mirabelle, who nearly fell over the Lego box in an attempt to enter the children's room.

"All right, I will help you. How do you want it?" she enquired and helped the children build the train set. She also helped them to build a large tower with the Lego blocks that collapsed only two minutes later when Harry tried to sit in front of it and managed to kick the whole thing down.

"Hawwy toopid," Luna commended, and Harry started to cry.

"Hawwy no toopid," he pouted, giving his sister an affronted look.

Seeing Harry's sad expression, Luna toddled over to him, ignoring the second tower that she kicked down on the way, gave Harry a sloppy kiss on the cheek, and said softly, "Hawwy no toopid, Luna loww Hawwy!"

Harry let out a contented yawn, and Luna turned to her mother. "Lunahawwy no pway mowe, Mummy wead stowwy?"

"Pwease," Harry fell in immediately. Just like Luna, Harry loved stories immensely. '_It's so nice when Mummy Mirabelle reads a story to us, she does it like Mummy always read to me, and I like when Luna comes into my bed to listen to the story and cuddle,_' Harry thought happily.

-----

Over the next few months, the Lovegoods often took their children on various expeditions in search for unusual magical beasts since Xenophilius was very interested in them and wanted to publish a series in his Quibbler about rare magical animals. On these trips they would often meet other wizards and witches, and after a few months several people knew about the whereabouts of Harry Potter. 

One evening, when the Lovegoods were having tea in their living room after their children went to bed, Mirabelle suggested to her husband, "Why don't you write an article about Harry and how he came to be a Lovegood? So many people already know that he belongs to us, and since we have adopted him not even Dumbledore can take him away from us."

"You're absolutely right, Mirabelle. I'll put an article in the next edition," Xenophilius agreed thoughtfully, already summoning parchment and a quill.

-----

A week later, in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, the Headmaster nearly suffered a heart attack when Poppy Pomfrey handed him the newest addition of The Quibbler at breakfast and read the bold headline. The huge headline covered half of the front page of The Quibbler:

_**Harry Potter betrayed by Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts**_

_**Harry Potter abandoned by Muggle relatives**_

_**Harry Potter now a Lovegood**_

'_When Lily and James Potter died, their last will, which stated that their child Harry was under no circumstances to be placed with his own living relatives, the Dursleys, which was ignored by the will executor Albus Dumbledore, who hurriedly put the child in their care. A few hours later, the child was abandoned by his relatives and completely neglected. Only by chance, Mirabelle, Xenophilius, and Luna Lovegood found the child that was __near death and took him in. Now, Harry Lovegood-Potter is very happy and loved by his new family. Read more on pages 5-7_.'

**The End**

_Thanks to my wonderful betas mushcorn and murgy31 for making this story readable._

_I was wondering why Harry and especially Luna can speak so well for their age, and murgy31 told me that's because they are wizards – just to let you know!_

_If you want to see a story graphic, have a look at my Yahoo newsgroup page (the link is on my profile page)._

_Maybe I will continue this story later, but (as usual 'sighs') I have to finish at least one of my other stories first._

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


End file.
